Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow and disc barrow forming part of a round
barrow cemetery on Black Down, a gentle, north facing chalk ridge overlooking
the South Winterbourne valley, in an area of the South Dorset Downs. The
barrows are aligned broadly east-west.
The disc barrow was surveyed by L V Grinsell in 1952, when it consisted of a
central mound 8m wide and c.0.7m high, surrounded by a berm or gently sloping
platform 4.5m wide. The exterior of the monument was defined by an outer bank
1.8m wide and c.0.2m high. Inside the bank was a ditch 1.8m wide, from which
material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The barrow has
been ploughed since 1952 and the monument now has the appearance of a spread
mound 15m wide and c.0.5m high. The ditch is no longer visible at ground
level as it has become infilled over the years, but it will survive as a
buried feature.
The bowl barrow, which is 15m to the west of the disc barrow, has a mound 14m
wide and c.0.45m high. This is surrounded by a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument. This is no longer visible at
ground level as it has become infilled over the years, but will survive as a
buried feature c.2m wide.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Despite some ploughing, the bowl barrow and disc barrow 900m south east of
Kingston Russell Farm survive comparatively well and will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the
landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 169
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116

Source: Historic England